The First Word

I'm a relative newbie to Diplomacy, having first learned of Diplomacy in December of 2000, but when I first saw it I was in love. I was determined to make my first game a memorable experience for the others. Devouring all the advice I could online about tactics was easy enough. Positioning and the purely tactical were based on easy to understand rules. But the Do's and Don'ts of writing press were much harder to grasp. Everyone puts it in terms of what you have to accomplish ("Make sure England leaves the Channel alone until 02".) This put me at a loss on how exactly I'd approach my enemies and potential allies in negotiation.

That's when I finally found out. You have to lie! How delightful!

That's what I determined diplomacy to be all about. Lying to get exactly what you want. But then an article later, to my great benefit, I had read that you must be truthful and as honest as possible. Lying should only be done the moment before a stab. What a way to confuse the newbie. Fortunately this article deals neither with lying nor telling the truth. Merely the method of how you approach them.

All these interesting thoughts of truth and lies were in my mind as I prepared for my first game. In it I met a veteran who was Russia while I was Turkey. I opened with two things: politeness and honesty. I told him upfront that more than likely one of us will end up dead, but before that, let's kill Austria. During the game, our press was frequent and very good at building trust. Every move he said he'd make he did, and I reacted in kind.

Then we got a replacement Germany, who saw the Juggernaut with fresh eyes. Germany demanded that all powers stop fighting to stop the Juggernaut or else he'd give up the game to us. I panicked upon hearing this demand. Since it was so truthful that I thought for sure the rest of the world would buckle down and stomp us. Especially Italy, who I wasn't in a very good position against.

So I sent out my reply press privately to the other powers. I pleaded innocence with Italy and got Italy to realize that I was being victimized by a Germany who was just power hungry.

My press worked. A year later Italy fell to my convoyed armies and a year after that I was stabbed by my Russia ally and he went on to solo (but entirely in the north, he didn't capture a single center past Budapest though I lost Vie and Bud).

Even though I lost the game, I learned huge lessons from it. And the interactions I had during that game forever shaped my future in gaming.

The Question Word

Why do I trust people (even to my better judgment) and perhaps more importantly, why do others trust me (even when all signs point to a stab)?

I think what it boils down to most is the tone of your press. Short, terse press may get the point across just as well as one that is more wordy, but the more wordy and polite one may convince your ally to trust you "one last time." Some of you may be unconvinced. Why on earth would it matter how you say something as long as the offer makes sense? If you're attacked by a salesman who wants to sell you something, which works better on you? A salesman who is rude, yet has a good product/offer or a salesman who is polite and soft-spoken?

What about right after a stab, what is the most seen press? I have seen most press to be angry scalding replies that leave me feeling justified in stabbing the ally I had worked with so well up until then. The few times I've received polite letters complimenting me on my stab and an offer of one or two more centers with the promise of help against another enemy I have usually accepted them (sometimes to my own demise).

What's worse is that this rudeness in press is not merely limited to stabs. I will let some heated press slide if it follows a particular vicious stab. But nowadays, it seems being polite and good spirited in your press is too much for some people. Whether they think it's part of the "fun" to take on the persona of a dictator who views all others as lesser, or if they are themselves like they present themselves I don't know. But I do know that it's time for people to think a little before sending out press that is less than polite.

How many times have you gotten press (or a broadcast) from a power criticizing another power's decision, or about how "blind" or "foolish" someone is for not doing as you say. Do those press come off as polite? Can press that is insulting come off as polite? Certainly. Ever hear of constructive criticism?

The Example Word

Which of these sounds more persuasive?

Granted, the second is a little extreme. But I'd be surprised if any of you haven't had a press like the 2nd. It's not so much as what Germany is saying to France is so harsh, since the points in both are the same, but the tone comes off completely different. Some people may see both of these examples and say there is no difference, both are acceptable. I take a different stance. While I will not say the 2nd example is as rude as it could be to considered abusive, it is borderline. And we shouldn't have borderline press in Diplomacy.

This doesn't mean we can't threaten other powers (Whether or not threats are an effective tactic is another article entirely) in game! Not at all. In fact, threatening becomes much more fun. For example, let's say we play hardball with Italy, we have two examples, which sounds more threatening.

The After Word

Post-Victory statements are also very important, in my mind, to continuing to the show of good sportsmanship and respect that's sometimes so desperately lacking in this game. Just because you are anonymous online does not mean you have free rein to insult the other players, whether they won or lost! If I were in charge of all of diplomacy, I would make insulting press one step below cheating. Perhaps a year ban from Diplomacy would straighten these people out. I will give one example of a press sent by a loser at the end of a game I GM'ed. It was no-press and didn't count for stats on BOUNCED and was soloed by France. In the interest of privacy, I'll only highlight parts of one paragraph:

I should have realized that both [Powers omitted] were brain dead from the start.
[Power omitted] you summed up well, and your effort was gutless, timid and grossly inept.
I've seen better efforts from 10 year olds.

I am not taking this much out of context and it was quite shocking to see such a high ranked player make such abusive comments. I broadcast the press hoping to get the player to apologize or better yet, change his nature and turn over a new leaf.

The Last Word

This game we play is suppose to be fun. When we have a lack of respect for one another we lose that fun. And when a game isn't fun anymore, it's time to stop playing. It's easy to forget to show respect in a game over the Internet. After all, you're not sitting across from the other person - you don't know the other person. Perhaps the only way we can show respect is by remembering there are real people behind the powers on the board and we don't know whether they like being told bluntly that they aren't playing well.

In conclusion, next time you prepare to send out some press, think it over a bit and remember, respect your fellow players and they will respect you. And as any good diplomat knows... respect can give you a huge advantage.

  Duinlas
(ibrahim@rydia.net)